Chasing Gold
by lightningstrxu
Summary: Ruby was tired of waiting. Tired of wondering if Yang would return home from her journey. Heart pounding in her chest, and trusty partner by her side, Ruby couldn't say she knew what lay ahead on the path to Pokémon League. But if Yang was there, then nothing would stand in her way. Cover by Seshirukun.
1. Chapter 1

**Chasing Gold**

By Lightningstrxu

Chapter 1

* * *

 _Her sister's hand tousled her hair._

" _Take care of dad and Zwei for me, Ruby." Yang smiled before giving a thumbs up. "Next time I see you I'm going to be the Champion."_

 _She watched as her older sister walked down the forested path. Disappearing into the autumn leaves._

 _That was the last time she had ever seen Yang._

"Miss Rose!" a stern voice called snapping her out of her daydream.

"What?" she blinked her silver eyes looking around. "Yes, what is it, Doctor?"

"That is Professor Oobleck, Miss Rose." her teacher gave an exasperated sigh rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I didn't spend most of my academic studying to be a mere doctor. You weren't paying attention...again."

"Oh…" she shifted nervously in her seat. "Sorry…" she looked away from her teacher out the window once more, staring at the bright leaves of autumn. "I'll try and pay closer attention."

"See that you do." The Professor sighed again, before resuming his lesson.

Ruby tried her best to pay attention, at least enough to escape her teacher's ire.

But her heart just wasn't in it today. Normally she loved learning everything she could about pokemon. But today…

" _Next time I see you I'm going to be the Champion."_

Today was the anniversary of when Yang left. When her sister had seemingly vanished off the face of Remnant without a trace.

In a daze she grabbed her bag and left, meandering down the dirt path that led to her small cabin home. The sound of Spearow filling the air with a cacophony of calls.

A chorus of excited barks snapped her from her musings.

"Zwei!" Ruby knelt on the ground as her family's trusted Yamper bounded up to her. Petting the excitable dog pokemon he rolled onto his back. "Who's a good boy?" He let out a small yip. "That's right you are."

"Hey, kiddo." a gravelly voice called her attention silver eyes snapping in its direction.

"Uncle Qrow!" jumping to her feet she leaped into her uncle's arms nearly knocking him off his feet. "Hi!"

"Hey." he replied before letting go of her. "Missed you too squirt."

"How's the ranger life treating you?" she asked as they moved into the cabin, Zwei in tow with them.

"Eh...you know." he shrugged. "A rampaging Rhyhorn here a nest of Seviper there."

"So the usual." walking over to the cabinet she retrieved a cup. "Want anything to drink."

"Nah I got my own." he replied taking a swig from his flask causing her to frown.

"Something other than whiskey?"

"What else is there?" another gulp of his flask. "Where's Tai?"

"Oh, dad had business in (city name here)." Filling her cup with some fresh moomoo milk, she drank deeply. "He said he'd be back a few days."

"And he left you all alone." He chuckled. "That's dangerous."

"Hey I can take care of myself just fine." she pouted. "In another year I'll be going out into the world just like…" her face fell. "Like Yang." she sighed. "Today's the day she left."

Ruby slumped into a nearby chair, Zwei nuzzled and whimpered at her feet.

"Qrow, You haven't heard anything about her while you're out there?"

"I hear lots of things kid." Qrow sighed. "Tales and hearsay of a fiery blond going around righting wrongs and raising hell. But as far as finding her. I've got nothing."

She gazed into her glass of milk as if it had the answers she sought. "You had to have heard something, you're friends with Amber aren't you?"

"Friends is a strong word squirt." He sipped from his flask. "She wouldn't tell me anything anyway."

"I know…" she sighed. Amber Autumn was Vale's member of the Elite Four, so if Yang had challenged them she would know. Unfortunately, matches against them were never made public so trainers would be unable to strategize in advance. The Remnant Champion was also, by law, anonymous. At least by the Champion's discretion. So even if Yang had achieved her goal and was now Champion, she'd never know unless her sister told her directly.

"Look, I know you're worried." He said reassuringly. "I'm worried and your dad's worried too. But Yang's a big girl and unfortunately has a little too much of Raven in her. Once she gets over whatever phase she's going through she'll come back." he took another sip of his whiskey. "Besides, in a year, you can chase her down yourself."

"Yeah…" Ruby said dejectedly leaning back in her chair.

A beeping noise caught her attention. Glancing up she saw her uncle checking his scroll.

"Sorry, Ruby." he stood from his seat. "Apparently some kid thought it was a good idea to throw rocks a Beedrill hive, I got to go take care of this."

"Oh...I'll see you later then?"

"Yeah, if I have time I'll drop by later tonight."

And just like that Ruby was alone, she was always alone lately.

"At least you're always here for me Zwei." she patted the Yamper on his head. Standing she made her way to her room. She should probably work on that report that Professor Oobleck had assigned, but she just couldn't muster up the energy.

Collapsing on her bed, sleep soon found her. Maybe a nap would make her feel better.

######

 _The forested path lay before Ruby as she walked tentatively down it. In the distance, she could see her sister, her back to her._

" _Yang!" she sprinted down the path towards her, but the harder she ran the further away Yang seemed to drift. "YANG!"_

 _The ground collapsed beneath her and she fell into darkness, Yang rising out of her reach._

"Yang!" Ruby shot up in her bed only to bang her head off the top bunk above her. "Ow!" she rubbed her head and rolled out of her bed. Glaring at the empty bunk above her own. Yet another stark reminder of Yang's absence.

With a clenched fist she suppressed a scream of frustration.

No more.

"That's it!" she stamped the ground. She had to know what happened to Yang, but the only way she could do that is if she left on her own pokemon journey, and that was still a year away. Another furtive glance at Yang's vacant bunk. Silver eyes narrowed in anger. "Screw it!"

Stomping over to her closet, she retrieved a large backpack. Her adventurer's pack. While her pokemon journey was a year away still she had decided to prepare in advance. While it might have made her a huge dork it also meant she could leave right now.

"I'm going now." Racing out of her room and down the stairs. A worried bark caught her attention. "I'm going out Zwei." the Yamper's eyes narrowed as it looked at the clock and then back at her. "Yeah I know it's late." another annoyed growl. "What's it matter to you?" Silver eyes glared at the small dog pokemon. But Zwei stood resolutely. "Ugh fine you can come with me alright."

With a bark of agreement, the Yamper nodded his head. She swore that dad may have trained Zwei a little _too_ well. With the pokemon in tow, she made her way down the path. If she was going to be a trainer she needed a pokemon to call her own. Well, she had Zwei, but technically he belonged to dad. Either way, there was only one place she was going to get a pokemon.

Professor Ozpin's lab.

The Lab was a landmark in the small town of Patch, and it was responsible for giving pokemon eggs to all new trainers. Slinking off the path and into the woods near the lab she peered into the window.

Zwei whined and rubbed his head against her legs.

"What?" she looked down at him. "I'm just borrowing my egg a little early." the pup rolled his eyes. "Okay fine I'm stealing it. But don't you want to know what happened to Yang?"

Zwei paused, seeming to ponder the statement for quite a while before finally nodding.

"Good." Ruby patted the Yamper oh his head. Looking through the window she could see the egg room. Checking the window she found it unlocked. That was...surprising. She would have expected security to be tighter. Then again it's not like there were many people stupid enough to steal from a highly respected pokemon professor.

Unless their name happened to be named Ruby Rose.

Slipping into the room it was lined with eggs arranged on different shelves.

"There's so many." tiptoeing to the nearest set of shelves. Egg of all different colors and patterns called to her. Inspecting each one carefully she debated over which one she should pick. She had no way of knowing which pokemon would come from which egg, she wished she had paid more attention to Professor Peach's lessons on breeding.

Closing her eyes she reached out. "Speak to me oh spirit pokemon. Tell me who you are." taking a step forward she had hoped that somehow the right egg would call to her. However, with her eyes closed, she stumbled, her eyes shooting open she reached out to stop her fall. A glass beaker fell to the floor and shattered.

"Who's there?" a light came on in the hallway, footsteps drew ever near the lab.

"Crap!" Ruby panicked, grabbing the nearest egg. She leaped out the window immediately breaking into a sprint. "Come on Zwei!" the Yamper gave chase to his charge. Running wildly into the woods for what seemed like hours Ruby's legs finally gave out. She collapsed onto the ground still gripping the egg tightly as she drifted off into an exhausted slumber.

 _######_

Something sharp poked at her cheek.

"Go away." Ruby mumbled another poke. "Zwei, stop!"

"Scy?" a small voice caught her attention. That definitely wasn't Zwei. Her eyes snapping open she was face to face with a green figure only about a foot tall, the shattered remains of the egg she had stolen the previous night lay on the ground around it. Sitting up, she blinked, looking down at the newborn bug pokemon. "Scyther?" the little mantis cocked its head to the side in confusion.

"Are you...my pokemon?" Ruby asked hesitantly before reaching out to it slowly. Zwei nipped at her sleeve and whined in a concerned tone. "It's fine Zwei, he's a baby. It's harmless."

The Yamper gave the Scyther a furtive glance. Those blades certainly didn't look harmless. But Ruby seemed to be confident. Letting go she reached out to the newborn.

"Hey there, little guy." she whispered.

"Scy." the mantis sniffed at her hand before nuzzling it. A wide smile formed on her face.

"You're adorable." her silver eyes shining with joy she pet the young Scyther's head. It trilled in contentment. "Aww!" she scooped the little pokemon up and hugged it. "Ow!" she let it go.

"Scy?" It looked up at her curiously.

"Right blades for arms." she groaned holding her side, luckily the Scyther hadn't actually caused any damage. "You'll have to settle for head pats little guy." she reached down to pet the Scyther again."

"Scy." it nuzzled her hand.

Ruby had never been happier. She finally had a pokemon to call her own. A sudden panicked barking caught her attention.

"What is it…" her gaze fell on the target of the Yamper's focus. A pokemon had emerged from the woods, it was covered with white fur, a crescent horn jutted from the side of its head.

An Absol, a pokemon that was said to be the harbinger of misfortune and downfall. A bringer of bad luck and not in anyway native to the forests around Patch. So where did it...that's when she noticed the chip in the pokemon's horn.

"You're in a lot of trouble kiddo." Qrow said sternly as he walked out of the trees to stand next to his Absol.

"Crap." Ruby sighed.

Her journey was over before it could start.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chasing Gold**

By Lightningstrxu

Chapter 2

* * *

Ruby fidgeted under the harsh light of the lamp. Across the table from her Professor Ozpin sat sipping his coffee almost painfully slow. He had been silent for several minutes, every slurp rang out loudly in the quiet room. He stood and refilled his mug once more, returning to his seat the torturous slurps continued.

"I'm sorry!" she couldn't take it anymore. "It was a stupid idea anyway."

Ozpin set his mug down on the table, bringing his hands up to rest in front of his face. "Stealing a pokemon is much more than a 'stupid idea' Miss Rose. It is a very serious crime."

"I know!" she was on the verge of tears. Because of her impulsive nature, she chose to set out early and now she might lose that chance forever.

"Do you?" his eyebrow raised. "The egg you stole was not meant for a novice trainer like yourself. A scyther can be a very difficult Pokemon to raise but now, because of your actions, it is bonded with you. It will be nearly impossible to give it to another trainer now."

"Sorry…" she whispered.

"It's really such a shame." he stood grabbing a file. "You are one of the top students in the academy, you had a promising career in front of you as a trainer. But you stooped to going as low as stealing a Pokemon, you're no better than those miscreants from Team Paragon."

Ruby shrunk further into her chair, she felt smaller than a joltik under the professor's disappointed gaze. "I just wanted to find what happened to Yang." she mumbled.

"Yes stealing a Pokemon is unforgivable, and anyone who does so should be barred from being an official trainer." he set the file down in front of her and slid it across the table. "It's a good thing we never found the thief but managed to recover your pokemon Miss Rose."

Silver eyes blinked in confusion. "What?" tentatively she reached out and picked up the folder. Opening it was a little card.

 **Provisional Trainer License**

 **Name: Ruby Rose  
ID: 20656**

"I'm a trainer?" she looked up at him unsure.

"A provisional trainer, but yes." he took a sip of his coffee. "With that license, you will be allowed to go through Remnant's gym circuit. However, there are some limitations."

"Such as…" she managed to stammer out, she wasn't sure what was even happening.

"As a provisional trainer, you will not have access to the pokemon storage network. Until you get your full license you will only be able to have six pokemon until you obtain full accreditation." She nodded. "And be warned, unlike a full license it can be rescinded at any time by me." reaching into his pocket he set a pokeball on the table. "So try to not disappoint me, Miss Rose."

"Yes sir." she nodded meekly again. Reaching out she grabbed the pokeball, holding it gingerly in her hands. She didn't know how but she knew that the pokemon residing inside was her scyther.

Her scyther…

"I won't let you down sir!" she clutched the pokeball protectively to her chest.

 _######_

"Remember your rations." her father's voice rang out from Ruby's scroll.

Silver eyes rolled as she double checked her supplies. "I know dad." she zipped up her pack. "I have four weeks worth of dried rations."

"Okay." he nodded. "And don't forget Zwei's.."

"Pokeball in case of emergency." she held up the aforementioned sphere.

"And is his…"

"He's been registered to me. The transfer took no time at all." she answered again before the question could begin. Walking over to her dresser she picked up her scroll, staring back at the concerned face of her father. "Dad I'll be fine, I've been preparing for this since I was twelve."

"Ruby I really wish you had waited until I had come home before leaving."

Perhaps she was jumping the gun a little, it had been barely a day since she had received her license. And she had fast-tracked her everything, gathering her savings and taking up official ownership of Zwei.

"Dad..I'll call you every day if you'd like." silver eyes stared out resolute. "But I have to do this. Yang is out there and I'm going to find out what's happened to her."

Tai let out a long and weary sigh before smiling softly. "I know, you have the same look in your eye that Summer used to get. A wild ursaring couldn't stop you now." he chuckled. "When you find your sister give her a smack in the head for me."

"Can do!" She beamed.

"I love you, Ruby."

"Love you too dad." she smiled. "I'll call you before bed."

"I'll be waiting, goodbye."

With that the scrolls screen went dark and she stowed it away in her pocket. A final check of her supplies done she went downstairs. "Come on Zwei." The yamper perked from where he slept on the carpet. The door opened, the sun shone brightly in the sky. Crossing the threshold Ruby took her first steps on her pokemon journey.

 _######_

Ruby stared at the wall of trees in front of her. She had been walking for at least three hours and she had reached the first hurdle on her journey.

The Emerald Forest.

She was used to woods and trees, her house was surrounded by them, but the Emerald Forest was dense, dark and foreboding. You didn't enter without a pokemon. She supposed she could just take the path around, but the fastest way to Bar and her first gym was straight through these woods.

Taking a deep breath she started trudging through the undergrowth, greatly slowing her pace. After nearly an hour she slumped against a tree. While she couldn't see the sun very well but she guessed it was a little after noon.

"Why don't we stop and rest Zwei." she sat on the ground rummaging through her backpack. The yamper gave a relieved bark flopping on the ground. Setting out two small bowls the exhausted pokemon was given some much-needed food and water. Reaching for her belt she retrieved her pokeball.

"Scy!" the young bug screamed as he was freed. It blinked in confusion looking around curiously at his new surroundings.

"Hey little guy." she held out a piece of small jerky. According to her research scythers were highly carnivorous. "You hungry?" the mantis eyed the morsel of meat cautiously, inching closer he sniffed at it.

"Scy!" he snatched it up in his jaws downing it in a single gulp. It looked up at her expectedly. She smiled.

"Don't worry there's more." she chuckled as she retrieved another piece. "And try to taste it this time."

"Ther!" he gobbled it up perhaps even faster than before. "Scy!" it begged.

"No more for now little guy." she put away her pack. "You can have more at dinner." Ruby never thought she would ever see a Pokemon as fierce as a scyther give her puppy dog eyes but here she was. "Come here." she beckoned with a wave of her fingers.

The little mantis bounded forward nuzzling her hand. "Affectionate little guy aren't ya." the pokemon only trilled in response. Zwei pawed at her side, getting her attention, looking up at her. "Yeah, yeah I love you too Zwei." she patted the puppy's head.

"Scy?" the bug type perked his head up at mention of the yamper's name.

"No don't respond to that, your name's not Zwei." she waved her hands frantically, trying to dismiss the baby Pokemon's mistake. "Your name is…" She froze, she hadn't yet named her newborn scyther, she had forgotten in all the excitement of the past day.

What could she name him? What _should_ she name him? So far he had only been 'little guy' but that wouldn't suffice; and while she had nothing against the practice she couldn't imagine being one of those trainers who just called their Pokemon by their species name.

The mantis was looking up at her expectantly.

"Don't rush me I'm thinking." she pulled out her scroll and activated checked the status of her Pokemon. Clicking on the scyther's portrait she browsed the various options until she found the one she was looking for.

 **Register Nickname**

Pushing the button the scroll she stared at the entry screen. "What to call you." she typed in a name.

 **Crescent is the name you have chosen, is this correct?**

Ruby was about to push yes, but she hesitated and thought a moment longer. This wasn't just a Pokemon, this was _her_ pokemon. A part of her family. Retyping the name she quickly hit yes.

 **Congratulations your Pokemon is now named Crescent Rose.**

"Welcome to our family…Crescent." she beamed.

"Scyther!" the newly dubbed Crescent exclaimed leaping into her arms.

"Ahh watch it! No hugging!"

It was the start of a beautiful friendship.

 _######_

Walking down the path Ruby took in the sights of the forest around her. Crescent was chasing Zwei, terrorizing the yamper.

"Remember to play nice Crescent." Ruby admonished the young scyther, who seemed intent on ignoring her, too focused on playing. While she knew it was harmless and that the bug type was just having fun she couldn't set a precedent. "Crescent!" she stamped her foot on the ground. "Heel!"

"Scy?" the mantis looked up at her confused.

"Heel!" she pointed by right next to her, but Crescent still seemed unsure. "Zwei help me out and show him. Heel."

Zwei barked and ran to sit at her master's feet. And he then gave a small yip at Crescent.

"Do you understand?" she pointed again. "Heel."

"Ther.." Crescent studied her curiously, before snapping his head to the side. "Scy!"

"What is it?" she followed the scyther's gaze. There on the ground pecking for food was a tiny red bird. As slow as she could she reached for her scroll. "Fletchinder." she whispered. This was her first wild pokemon. Instinctively her hand went to one of her spare pokeballs. This would be her first mark as a trainer, her first catch.

" _As a provisional trainer, you will not have access to the pokemon storage network. Until you get your full license you will only be able to have six pokemon until you gain your full accreditation."_

The words of Professor Ozpin rang out in her head. If she caught this Pokemon that would bring her up to three, half her party gone. Perhaps she should think about this a bit more carefully.

"Scy!" Crescent flew forward launching itself at the bird pokemon.

"Crescent wait!" she watched in vain as the fletchinder took flight, and her over eager scyther giving chase. "Get back here!" she took off after them, Zwei yipping frantically in tow. The bug Pokemon vanished into the trees much faster than she would have expected a newborn like him to go.

A terrified scream, a crash followed by angry barking caused a new surge of adrenaline to pump through Ruby's veins. Bursting through the trees she tried to make sense of the sight before her.

An older woman in a red and gold dress that made her stand out vibrantly against the trees sat on the ground glaring at Crescent, her teeth clenched in rage. A small black and white dog pokemon was by her side growling angrily.

"Insolent little insect." the woman snarled her golden eyes narrowed. "You dare attack me?!" she pointed at Crescent. "Cerberus, Ember!"

"Houn!" the dog pokemon howled before firing a small blast of flame.

"Wait don't!" Ruby panicked.

But it was too late.

Crescent was engulfed in flame.

* * *

Dun Dun a wild rival appears.

Well another chapter down, Ruby's adventure is off to a heck of a start. As always read and review.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chasing Gold**

By Lightningstrxu

Chapter 3

* * *

Ruby's eyes widened in horror as her precious Scyther was engulfed with flames.

"Crescent!" Ruby raced to the bug's side frantically trying to put out the flames. After several panicked moments, she was able to snuff the flames. "You okay boy?"

"Scy…" Crescent said weakly covered in burns before fainting.

"Crescent!" she shook the baby pokemon. "Crescent!" Zwei whined licking the fallen pokemon.

"Relax and stop panicking!" the golden-eyed woman snapped. "He's just fainted, the obvious outcome for a child such as yourself."

Ruby glared at the older woman, her Houndour growling fiercely at her side. "How could you! He's just a baby!"

"Just a baby?" the woman scoffed. "It's what you get challenging me to a pokemon battle, now send out your next pokemon so I can get this over with." The woman pointed at Zwei.

"What?" Ruby blinked in confusion.

"Cinder!" Another voice called, Ruby's eyes snapped over to the newcomer's voice, a green haired girl accompanied by a silver-haired boy. "What are you doing?"

"This little miscreant's Scyther crashed into me." the woman apparently called Cinder pointed at Ruby. "So I accepted her challenge to battle."

"But I don't want to fight." Ruby pleaded. "Crescent ran away from me, he was chasing a Fletchinder and he must have run into you."

"A likely story you just..." Cinder's face fell.

"Cinder." the green haired girl cut Cinder off. "She never actually challenged you to a fight did she?"

"Our eyes met!" Cinder declared proudly. "That is the universal sign of wanting to battle."

"Come along." the silver-haired boy placed a hand on Cinder's shoulder clearly having none of the older woman's bluster. "You can help me set up camp while Em sees if she can smooth this over."

"Fine!" Cinder let out an annoyed huff. "Come along Cerberus."

"Hou." the black dog followed after her.

"Hey." The green haired girl knelt down and smiled. "I'm Emerald, who are you?"

"Um...I'm Ruby."

"Well nice to meet you, Ruby." Emerald extended out a hand.

"Uh..not really sure if it's nice to meet you though." Ruby replied nervously staring at her

"That makes sense." Emerald glanced over her shoulder at her compatriots. "Cinder can be a little intense." she reached into a pack on her hips. "Take this." she held out a spray bottle. "It's a burn heal. It'll help your Scyther's burn."

"Thanks." Ruby took the bottle from her and sprayed it on Crescent. Retrieving his Pokeball from her belt she returned him into it. "Rest up buddy."

"There that should help." Emerald stood up. "If you would like you can join us for lunch." she turned away from Ruby and back to her group. "That way _someone_ will have a chance to apologize," Emerald added more than a little loudly.

Ruby watched as Cinder looked up from where she and Mercury were making camp, scowling at Emerald.

"I don't know if that's a good idea."

"Nonsense it's the least we all can do."

"What do you think Zwei?" Ruby looked. The yamper gave an affirmative bark. "Fine sounds good for me." Ruby followed Emerald over to the blanket where Cinder and Mercury were setting up for lunch.

"Everyone this is Ruby." Emerald motioned to her.

"Hi." Ruby waved a little nervously not sure what to make of Cinder who still seemed to be seething at her.

"And this is Mercury." Emerald continued pointing at the silver haired boy.

"Hey." Mercury greeted with a nod.

"Of course you already." Emerald paused searching for her next words carefully "Met Cinder."

"Yeah I did." Ruby sat down on the ground, Emerald sitting next to her and Zwei curling up on her other side . "Sorry about Crescent...oh Crescent is the name of my Scyther...but sorry for him crashing into you, I haven't gotten the hang of controlling him yet."

Cinder's only response was a restrained glare before being elbowed in the side by Mercury who earned perhaps an even harsher glare from her before sighing. "And I am sorry for attacking your Scyther without first checking to see if you truly wished to battle."

Ruby frowned, that was perhaps the most forced apology she had ever heard, and the older trainer definitely wasn't sorry. But it was the best she was going to get. "Apology accepted." she finally said, putting on a smile. Hopefully that would placate everyone for the time being, the sooner she got through this, the sooner she could carry on with her journey.

"Good now we've made up." Emerald held out a plate to Ruby. "And lunch is served."

"Thanks." Ruby happily took it, she was starting to feel a little hungry. That was until she saw what was on the menu, a hard lump of something she knew to be just a basic field ration. Yeah she wasn't exactly packing gourmet food in her bag but she at least had some canned food and some jerky.

"Hey, these ones actually have a bit of flavor." Mercury excitedly declared chowing down on his _'meal'._

"Yeah they do." Emerald mumbled through a mouthful of food. "We'll have to remember what these kind were called. Ruby took a bite of the ration, it was perhaps the blandest thing she had ever tasted, with only the barest hint of something that she could call taste. But it would be pretty rude to decline their offer, so with a smile she pushed through and took another bite.

"So Ruby what brings you out here into the middle of the woods?" Mercury asked between bites.

"Oh..um.." Ruby gulped down another bite. "I was heading to Bar, it was the closest town with a gym to Patch."

"Well you're not more than a day off." Emerald added. "We just came from there."

"Sure did!" Mercury declared confidently, opening his jacket showing a small gold badge shaped like double crescents. "Picked up the Lunar Badge while there, we all did."

"Stop displaying that thing like some child." Cinder snapped. "And put it in your badge case like an adult."

"Why?" Mercury scoffed. "It's my first badge."

"Defeating that buffoon of a gym leader is nothing to be proud of." Cinder's tirade continued. "The last time I was in Bar their gym leader was much more competent." the older woman angrily took a bite out of her ration. "What about you little girl?" she pointed at Ruby. "Aren't we a little young for the gym circuit?"

Ruby went rigid as she scowled at Cinder. She hated being condescended to. Yang used to do it all the time in order to rile her up. Well, she wasn't about to take this from some random woman in the woods. "Well aren't you a little old to only have one badge!" yeah it was petty taking a shot at Cinder's age as well, heck for all Ruby knew Cinder had more than one badge.

However, the look of pure rage that came across Cinder's face told Ruby she had struck a nerve. "How dare you!" she stood up suddenly towering over the younger girl. The Houndour that had been resting at her side stood up and growled. Zwei rushed to his feet as well the two dog pokemon snarling at each other staring the other down.

"Cinder!" Emerald rose to her feet standing between the two of them. "This is your last chance, do you really want to ruin it."

Cinder glared at her companion before returning her gaze to Ruby who was surprised she didn't just burst into flames then and there. "Fine." Cinder spat out. "Come along Cerberus, let's go for a walk." with that she spun on her heel and walked away from them, her Houndour walking dutifully behind her.

Emerald let out a sigh as Cinder left. "Merc go follow her and make sure she doesn't burn down the forest."

"Right." he nodded before chasing after his older companion.

"You should probably go." Emerald turned.

"Yeah, I kind of gathered that." Ruby chuckled nervously gathering her things.

"I'm really sorry about this. Cinder is an okay person once you get to know her, she just has some…" She paused searching for the right word. "Issues she's working through, her temper is one of them. Just...don't bring up her age again."

"Yeah sorry, that was kind of low of me." Ruby had no clue why that was such an issue, a lot of trainers started their career later in life than others. Cinder wasn't even that much older than her anyway. "Well thank you for the...meal and for helping out Crescent."

"No problem. Hopefully, if we meet again it will be on better terms."

"Yeah sure." Ruby wasn't really sure she wanted to meet with Cinder again. With a final wave goodbye, she made her way back to the main path, she was only a day away from Bar, a day away from her first gym and the first hurdle she would need to jump on her long quest to find Yang. That thought was more than enough to put a spring in her step as she walked, with Zwei in tow.

 _######_

It had been a few hours since Ruby had her encounter with Cinder and her companions and it would be dark soon.

"Come on Zwei let's find a spot to camp." Ruby looked down at her yamper companion who barked in affirmation. It didn't take long for them to find a large tree with a slight hollow in it, a perfect place to settle in for the night. Ruby slipped her backpack off and retrieved her sleeping bag from it and unfurled it. Pulling out a bowl she poured out a small amount of food for Zwei's dinner which the yamper greedily devoured. Unclipping a Pokeball from her belt Ruby stared at it. Should she let Crescent rest longer? "I should probably check on him." clicking the button she tossed it to the ground.

"Scy!" Crescent cried excitedly as it appeared in a flash of red light.

"How you feeling buddy?" Ruby knelt down to be on the baby pokemon's level.

"Ther!" the bug type lept into her arms happy to see his trainer.

"Ack no hugging!" Ruby flailed managing to get the affectionate Crescent off of her. "I love you too buddy." she pat him on the head. "You feeling better?"

"Scy!" the Scyther nuzzled her hand almost purring.

"I'll take that as a yes." she giggled. A rustling in the leaves above caught her attention. Eyes snapping upwards she saw a Fletchinder flitting about the trees, probably the same one she saw earlier. "Figures you'd show up again."

"Scy?" Crescent whipped his head around to stare at the bird pokemon, his wings flapping in anticipation.

"Heel!" Ruby ordered. "To me Crescent."

The bug pokemon looked at her, its eyes going from her face to her pointing finger. After a moment of contemplation, it walked over to her side.

"Good boy." Ruby scratched his head. "You think you're up for a battle Crescent?"

"Scy!" the bug type nodded enthusiastically.

This would be it, her first battle, and quite possibly her first capture. Ruby knew she had limited slots available but this Fletchinder felt like fate. Steeling herself she pointed. "Alright, Crescent Quick Attack!"

Quick was an understatement Crescent took off like a shot slamming into the bird at high speed knocking it off the branch and to the ground.

The Fletchinder recovered a moment later flying back up at Crescent a small blast of flame releasing from its mouth.

Ruby's eyes widened in panic. "Not again...Crescent…" But before she could even issue the command to dodge it, Crescent gracefully evaded the fireball. "Yeah, good instincts buddy!" Ruby cheered. "Now Quick Attack again."

"Ther!" the bug type raced forward again, but this time the bird, expecting the attack flapped effortlessly to the side. Crescent came around again for another strike but the bird was too fast.

"It's too mobile in the air." Ruby whispered watching as Crescent barely managed to avoid another gout of flame. The Fletchinder obviously annoyed the flew in close to tackle Crescent. "That's it. Crescent Double Team!"

"Scy!" the Scyther complied as its body flickered into several illusory copies, the bird pokemon flew right through one of them and slammed into a tree with a loud thud. A moment later it fell to the ground unconscious.

"Pokeball go!" Ruby threw her Pokeball at the downed bird which was sucked inside. The ball wiggled once, twice, thrice and then went still. "Yes!" a beep rang out from her scroll.

 _ **Fletchinder the Ember Pokemon**_

 _ **It scatters embers in the tall grass. Then bug Pokémon, frightened by the flames, come flying out, and Fletchinder gobbles them up.**_

 _ **Would you like to register a nickname?**_

Of course, she would like to nickname it. But what to name it?

"Let's see you're fast, shoot fire." Ruby paged through the scroll. "And a girl, hmm" she tapped her chin with her finger in contemplation. "I've got it!" she began typing excitedly on her scroll.

 _ **Congratulations your Pokemon is now named Rocket Rose.**_

Ruby walked over to the Pokeball on the ground, picking it up she couldn't help but smile at it. "Welcome to the family Rocket." she hugged the Pokeball to her chest.

This was her first capture, her first mark as a Pokemon trainer.

One step closer to Champion, to Yang.

Only a million left to go…

* * *

Another chapter is done with, Ruby has her first capture and has met with potential rivals. I decided to do something different with Cinder making her rival and not a straight-up villain like in the show. So she has a bit of her Chibi personality in her. Just a bit more bombastic than in canon.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chasing Gold**

By Lightningstrxu

Chapter 4

* * *

Ruby looked on the town of Bar with wide eyes, she couldn't help but be mesmerized by its sprawling streets, and many buildings. Having never taken a step outside of her rural village of Patch, this was amazing.

"Look at it all Zwei!" she twirled on her feet gesturing dramatically at the buildings around her. "Actual skyscrapers!"

Zwei gave an affirmative bark of agreement.

"I know right! We're in the big leagues now." her silver eyes shone with excitement taking in the sights. Checking the map on her scroll, she glanced at the street sign to indeed make sure she was on the right path. The first stop on her journey was one that every aspiring pokemon trainer would become familiar with.

The Pokemon Center.

Ruby stared up at the red brick building that she was sure that in no time would become very familiar to her. Stepping inside she was greeted by warm colors and pleasant smells, of some kind of air freshener. The center felt like it was meant to be a home away from home, and for many a beginning trainer, it would be. Until she started earning money from battles she'd be relying on them for room and board. Walking up to the counter she found it unattended.

"Hello." She leaned over the counter. "Anyone here?" Her and rung the bell.

From out the back room burst a woman with pink hair tied up in a tight bun, dressed in a rather snug looking lab coat over a dangerously short black dress. She was currently grappling with large bipedal horned pokemon.

"No Rhydon, bad take your medicine!" the pink-haired woman screamed. Somehow wrestling the much larger Pokemon into submission, before shoving a pill into its mouth. The Rhydon seemed to be in shock that such a small woman could best it. She used that to her advantage quickly retrieving a pokeball from her coat pocket and recalling it. "You really thought you could beat me?" she boasted cackling maniacally unaware of her quite enraptured audience. "It will take more than a cranky Pokemon to best Thumbelina Peach!" her laughter continued, until she just managed to see Ruby and Zwei out of the corner of her eye, and cackling transformed into sputtering coughs. Composing herself the woman walked up to the counter. "Hello, and welcome to our Pokemon Center, I am Nurse Peach how may I assist you?" she said professionally.

Ruby blinked, not sure if she wanted the maniacal woman to examine her Pokemon. But then again she didn't have many other options. "Yes, I would like to check in my Pokemon, for treatment, as well as check-in for a room."

"Very well." the nurse waved her hand causing a holographic terminal to appear on the counter. "May I have your trainer card please."

"Yes of course." Ruby fished through her pocket and handed the card.

"Okay then, Ruby Rose, provisional trainer…" she began typing, Ruby idly wondering how a holographic keyboard could make clacking sounds. "You've caught three pokemon so far, which of them are we looking at today?"

Ruby placed two pokeballs on the counter. "Crescent Rose, my Scyther and Rocket Rose, my Fletchinder."

"Very well I'll give them a complete check-up." she took the pokeballs and placed them on a tray behind her. "It'll be a little while if you want to go relax in your room or maybe get acquainted with our little town."

"I think I will, thank you!" Ruby turned on her heels leaving her Pokemon in hopefully good care. Stepping out of the Pokemon Center, she glanced down at Zwei. "Well boy, where do you think we should go?"

A small bark.

"You're right we should go pick up more supplies. Now let's see." Scroll in hand she pulled up her map again. "The Pokemart is this way!" she pointed excitedly down a nearby street. Setting out a confident spring in her step she made her way to the building she was sure was her destination only to find a fast food joint in its place.

Ruby frantically checked her scroll, she was sure she was in the right. Maybe she had misread it? Face buried in her screen she began to retrace her steps. Only to crash into the ground as she walked into a wall.

"Hey, you okay?" A voice called out concerned. Ruby blinked trying to get her bearings looking up to be face to giant red eye with a giant floating moon.

"Ahh!" she recoiled back scooting along the ground.

"Oh sorry, did Miles scare you." Ruby looked to see a blonde boy staring down at her. "Don't worry he might look intimidating, but he'd never hurt a Cutiefly. Isn't that right?" he patted Miles on his side.

Ruby looked over at the pokemon, several shopping bags orbiting around it. "Sorry I wasn't looking where I was going and walked into him."

"Need a hand?" the blonde boy walked over holding his hand out to her.

She gripped his hand tightly as she stood. "Thanks uh…"

"Jaune Arc, and you've already had the pleasure of meeting my Lunatone, Miles."

The psychic type made an odd droning sound of acknowledgment.

"I'm Ruby Rose!" she shook his hand. "And this is Zwei." the puppy pokemon barked out a greeting.

"Well, nice to meet you Ruby." he smiled. "Sorry about Miles, if I wasn't so lazy having him carry my shopping for me, you wouldn't have slammed into him."

Ruby shook her head vigorously. "No, no, no it's my fault really, I was too busy looking at my scroll trying to find the Pokemart." Silver eyes widened. "You wouldn't happen to know where it is? My scroll said it should be right there but it's just a burger joint." she pointed at the offending restaurant.

"Of course I know where it is, I just came back from there." He motioned across the street to a big blue building. "They moved across the street last year when they expanded, your scroll must be out of date."

Ruby could feel her cheeks turning red, how could she have possibly missed the pokemart right in front of her face. That and the fact that her scroll was a hand me down from Yang, nothing ever changed in Patch so she had never realized how outdated the piece of tech was. "Oh thanks!" she waved. "Maybe I'll see you around again."

"You'll see me again right now. I'll help you out, I happen to know the shopkeeper pretty well, maybe I can get you a deal." he said with a wink.

Ruby's eyes sparkled, a discount! If there was anything a newbie trainer needed it was cheap supplies. "Really, that's amazing!" With a renewed spring in her step, the pair crossed the street, entering the shop she looked around, while Jaune wandered off to talk to the old man minding the counter.

Going down the nearest aisle Ruby began to carefully peruse the products, searching for exactly what she needed. Pokeballs were the first thing that caught her eye, she already had enough for her three remaining slots plus a few extra. But maybe a specialty one would be nice to have. A Quick Ball for a chance find, or perhaps Dusk Ball, she was bound to be in a cave eventually. However money was sparse, and she couldn't afford to be frivolous at least until she had a few wins under her belt.

That was something she should do, try and find a local trainer and challenge them. She would look exceedingly overconfident if she just strolled into the local gym hoping to win without ever battling another trainer. That was a total Yang move though.

Silver eyes widened in realization she could ask the gym leader about Yang, she would have had to have stopped here on her journey. Maybe she could get some clue as to where she went from here.

With a goal firmly set in her head, Ruby raced through the aisles picking up the few supplies she needed. Heading to the front of the store. She looked around frantically for Jaune. He was busy chatting up the old shopkeep.

"Jaune!" she excitedly shouted.

He paused his conversation. "That was fast, did you find everything you were looking for?"

"I did!" Ruby nearly slammed her purchases down on the counter. "I need to know where the trainers hang out, I have to practice my battling."

"Okay, I know it's exciting to be a new trainer, but you can afford to wait."

"I can't...I have to...No I need to challenge the gym leader as soon as possible."

Silver eyes stared resolutely into blue. While they had only just met Ruby could see by the expression on his face that he knew she wouldn't back down. "Alright, I'll take you there." He relented.

"Thank you so much!" Ruby positively beamed. Quickly making her purchases, with a ten percent discount no less! She followed Jaune out the door.

 _######_

It had been only a short trip across the town of Bar, with a minor stop off at Jaune's place to drop off his groceries.

Ruby now stood in a wide-open park, it was flat and featureless with grass cut short, even across its entire area. All around her were gaggles of trainers and their pokemon. Some were exercising, others were practicing moves.

"Well, here we are. Bar's very own Pokemon Park." Jaune motioned all around him. "Find a trainer and see if they want to battle."

"Is that it?" She looked at him quizzically. "Just walk up and talk to someone?"

"Pretty much." He said with a shrug. "Just be careful, you never know how strong the other trainers are."

Ruby could only nod in agreement. She didn't have any experience in battling a trainer, and she was down to only one. She had thought about swinging by the pokemon center to pick up Crescent and Rocket, but she felt it was best to let the two of them rest. But she had Zwei at least, she glanced down at the faithful yamper at her heels.

"Yo Arc!" A voice shouted Ruby looked to see a young man with a green mohawk striding up to them. "Whatcha doin, out with your girlfriend?" He said mockingly.

"Hey, Russel…" Jaune let out a beleaguered sigh. "No, she's not my girlfriend. She's new to town and I was showing her around."

"Hi, I'm Ruby." She greeted with a wave.

"Figures, no way you could pick up a chick." he scoffed, brushing off her greeting. "You know why I'm here right?" Russel poked Jaune in the chest with each word causing the blonde boy to flinch. "Your sister humiliated me."

"I had heard…" Jaune said quietly.

"I was supposed to get my badge Arc!" the brute's voice raised. "So if I couldn't get it from her, then I'm going to get it from you!"

Ruby blinked in confusion...Jaune's sister was the gym leader, and this guy Russel must've lost to her.

"Rus, you already have a badge. You know that's not how it works."

Russel's hands grabbed at the scruff of Jaune's shirt. Despite him being smaller than the blonde he was able to nearly pull him off balance. "It seems pretty simple I beat you. I get a badge, so pull out whatever pathetic excuse of a pokemon you have and fight me Arc."

Ruby bristled she couldn't stand bullies like him, people who thought just cause they were stronger meant they could get what they wanted. Before she could even think she threw herself between the two boys forcing Russel to let go of Jaune. "That's enough! You want a battle, I'll give you one!"

"You serious?" the green-haired boy sneered. "Isn't that just like you eh Arc? Hiding behind a girl once again to bail you out." he laughed. "Alright, you want a piece of this you got it. How does two hundred lien to the winner sound?"

Silver eyes widened two hundred would double her money, but it would also leave her flat broke if she lost. But she couldn't back down from a challenge. Yang wouldn't and neither would she. "Fine!" she declared triumphantly. "Zwei and I will take you on, right boy."

The Yamper gave a bark of affirmation.

"Only one pokemon, fine this will be quick. A one on one then?" Russel held out his hand.

Ruby's hand came out to shake his. His grip was tight, squeezing her hand like a vice. But she wouldn't buckle to such a basic intimidation tactic. "Deal!"

"Alright." he smirked. "Yo Arc make yourself useful and officiate the match." Russel commanded before backing up to make some space between them.

"This was a really bad idea Ruby." Jaune sighed. "He has way more experience than you, he already has a badge. You're going to lose."

"Maybe I will. But maybe I won't either." she smiled to reassure him. "Won't know until I try now will I? Now come on let's get this done with."

The two of them walked over to where Russel was, Jaune standing between them. He took a breath. "Challengers Ruby Rose and Russel Thrush. Present your pokemon."

"Get in there Zwei!" the dog pokemon barked happily running onto the field.

"Crush'em Blockhead!" Russel tossed out his pokeball. Out popped out a strange pokemon, a small bipedal lizard with yellow skin, a red growth poking out from its head. It's eyes narrowed as it snarled at Zwei.

Pulling out her scroll Ruby checked out her opponent. Scraggy, a Dark/ Fighting-type with a mean streak. This might be challenging.

"This fight will be one on one, until one of the pokemon is unable to battle." Jaune continued taking a step back to give the trainers space. "Begin!"

"Headbutt!" Russell commanded without wasting a single second before Ruby could even think of an order to react with the Scraggy raced forward, its head slamming into Zwei knocking the Yamper down.

"You okay boy?" she asked concerned. The little puppy struggled to his feet and gave a resolute howl. "Alright, Zwei now counter with a spark attack!"

Zwei's body became wreathed in electricity and he ran at Blockhead tackling into the lizard and shocking it at the same time.

"You just gonna take that, use payback!" Russel ordered and Scraggy recovered from the blow with a devastating hit to Zwei's flank. The Yamper was launched back several feet from the blow.

This was bad, Zwei was technically her most well-trained pokemon. But he had always been more of a family pet more accustomed to doing tricks, not attacks. Her eyes widened...maybe that was the answer.

"Zwei lay down!" she spoke her order clearly. The electric dog looked confused for a moment but followed the command dutifully.

"Surrendering already. Finish this Blockhead, headbutt!" Russell yelled and Scraggy ran at Zwei it's massive head rearing back to give the final blow.

"Roll over boy!" hearing his master's command Zwei rolled over and out of the way. Causing Blockhead to bury its face in the ground. The fighting type thrashed about but try as it might his head wouldn't come loose. "Now while he's stuck, use spark!" with electricity crackling Zwei slammed into his opponent. The electric attack coursing through the fighting type as it struggled until its whole body seized up as the paralysis took hold.

"Scraggy is unable to battle!" Jaune motioned to Ruby. "This matches winner is Ruby Rose."

Ruby couldn't believe it, she had taken part in her first pokemon battle with a trainer, one that she had challenged foolishly without thinking. Yet she had done it.

She had won.

* * *

Been a while hasn't it. To those who have been reading this, you may have noticed that Zwei was changed from Lillipup to a Yamper and Sickle's name was changed to Crescent. As always read and review.


End file.
